


Signs

by fairietailed



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Deaf!AU, F/M, Multi, a lot of fluff?, but building, deaf!lucy, off to a slow start, pretty much fluff, tattoo artist!Natsu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2016-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-23 02:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6102148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairietailed/pseuds/fairietailed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Is it the hair?”</p><p>Lucy tilted her head, eyebrows furrowed, and he continued.</p><p>“Is it the hair? Because that sometimes puts people off. The color, I mean,” he grabbed at his bangs, pulling them down and inspecting them cross-eyed. Lucy stifled a laugh and shook her head.</p><p>“Then is it my clothes? Or my appearance?” He grabbed at his t-shirt now, pulling at the black fabric. It had a logo with a dragon in the corner, with “I.D. TATTOO” circling the red insignia. He wore ripped jeans and sported four piercings in his right ear and a half-sleeve on his upper left forearm. Lucy bit her lip subconsciously and shook her head again.</p><p>“Then what is it? Why won’t you talk to me?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Lucy woke to the feeling of her pillow vibrating.

She half-heartedly fished her phone out from under it, squinting at the bright screen as she swiped to turn her alarm off. She groaned, rolling to her right and swinging her legs off the bed, her feet hitting the cold hardwood floor. She could smell the faint scent of her coffee being made as her machine kicked on, and she could feel the bass of the neighbor’s music below her feet.

She smiled to herself and stood, stretching her arms above her head and standing on her tip-toes, stretching her legs with them. She worked her way to her kitchen, putting some toast in the toaster and humming incoherently to herself as she made a b-line for the bathroom.

She took in the damage that sleep had given her face the night before, sighing and wiping off the mascara stains along the rims of her eyes. She brushed her hair and then her teeth, smiling at herself in the mirror before nodding her head in satisfaction. This would do nicely for the day.

She got dressed in her work uniform and headed back to the kitchen, grabbing her toast and a cup of coffee before heading out the door of her apartment. She walked through the lobby, waving at the building’s security guard as she made her way out onto the street. She made a right, heading in the direction of the book store she worked at.

Lucy scrolled through her text messages as she walked, a piece of toast in her mouth and coffee cup in her hand. She was responding to a text from her friend Levy when she ran straight into a wall, dropping her toast and spilling her coffee, watching it fall to the floor with a devastated expression.

She gasped and stumbled backwards. Her head whipped up, ready to demolish whatever wall stood in her way-

But it wasn’t a wall.

It was a man.

A man with… Pink hair? And a look of complete and utter shock as he scrambled toward Lucy, his arms flailing in every direction as his mouth moving a mile a minute.

Lucy stepped back, her frown turning to a look of concern, as she had no idea what this man was saying. He spoke so fast she couldn’t understand him, and she held her arms out to signal for him to stop talking. He did, and she sighed with relief. At least now he was quiet.

He looked at her worriedly, taking another step forward. This time, Lucy didn’t step back, and instead focused on his lips as they moved.

“Are you okay? I’m really sorry about that. Do you want me to buy you another coffee? Or a new shirt, if you really want… I mean, I can at least pay you back…”

Lucy shook her head, smiling softly. He motioned behind him, the worried look never leaving his face.

“Oh… Okay. Well, I’m really sorry again. Let me at least buy you a coffee. I insist, really. There’s a shop right down the street, I think.”

She considered for a moment, and looked at her watch. She still had time before her shift started. And she did want another coffee. She nodded, shrugging her shoulders.

The man’s face lit up, and he nodded excitedly as he turned to leave. She hurried to catch up, making sure to walk at a pace where she could still see his face.

“Great! Okay. Cool! Uh… I’m Natsu, by the way. What’s your name?”

She thought for a moment before responding. When she did, she simply held up her purse, which had the name Lucy embroidered across the bottom right corner. She and Levy had matching work bags; she’d taken larger measures to tell which was hers after the 18th accidental bag-switching-situation. Sometimes it did come in handy to have her name on display like this, though.

“That’s a nice name,” he responded after inspecting her bag for a moment. He smiled again, and she couldn’t help but smile back. “I can’t say enough how sorry I am. I was waiting for a cab and totally wasn’t paying attention. It was all my fault. Were you on your way to work?”

Lucy nodded once, and he nodded back, continuing.

“I figured. You looked like you were. I hope I didn’t make you late. Oh man, you won’t get in trouble, right?”

She shook her head, and he sighed with what seemed to be relief.

“Oh, good. Because that would really suck if-”

He turned his head in the opposite direction, and Lucy frowned as he cut himself off from her. She couldn’t pick up the rest of his sentence, but when he turned back he was smiling again, so Lucy did the polite thing and smiled back.

She could feel the subway run beneath her feet, and smell the hotdog cart on the corner. She watched as the owner handed a woman a hot dog, smiling while taking her money. The woman turned to her daughter, dropping the hotdog into the stroller she was pushing. She watched as the little girl smiled up at her mother, stuffing her face with her food. Her mouth watered, and she was suddenly very sad about losing her toast.

They made it to the café, and he held the door open to her as she entered. She was hit by a wave of mocha and pastries, and she waved at the white-haired girl behind the counter.

“Lucy! What are you doing here? Aren’t you on your way to work?”

Lucy nodded her head in the direction of Natsu, who was making his way towards them. The barista raised her eyebrows questioningly. “Is this a date?”

Lucy shook her head quickly, her face flushing as she held up her empty coffee cup, motioning between herself and Natsu. The girl smiled, giving Lucy a knowing look.

“Ah, so it’s the old ‘he bumped into me and spilled coffee on my shirt’ troupe, huh? Well, at least he’s cute!”

Lucy rolled her eyes at the woman in front of her. She felt Natsu’s hand on her shoulder as he made his way next to her, and realized that he’d come up as she and the barista were talking.

“Hey, Lucy, you’re familiar with the workers here?”

Lucy nodded, and the barista spoke up across from them, leaning across the counter and sticking out her hand for Natsu to shake. He complied, a grin spreading across his face.

“Hi, I’m Mirajane! Lucy is a regular here. She comes in a lot,” she looked at Lucy, and raised her eyebrows. “The usual?”

Lucy nodded, smiling as Mirajane wrote her order on her cup and passed it to the employee behind her, who had already begun mixing Lucy’s drink for her.

After Natsu had given his order and they received their drinks, Lucy waved goodbye to Mirajane as they left the shop. As they exited, Lucy made a sharp right, heading back towards the bookshop. She couldn’t be too late or Levy would get upset. She had just begun to walk when she felt a hand grab her shoulder, and she turned to see Natsu behind her, his face screwed up in confusion.

“Where are you going?”

Lucy pointed in the direction of the bookstore a couple of blocks away. Natsu’s face turned into that of understanding. “Oh. Work?”

She nodded again, and he joined her in the action.

“Can I walk you?” He asked, and a small smile crept to her face. She nodded once, and he looked at her excitedly. “Great!”

They walked together without Natsu speaking to her. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, expecting him to say something, but he never did.

Lucy turned on her heel as they arrived in front of the bookstore. She grinned up at him, waving quickly as she backed into the door, opening it. She turned to walk inside, but once again felt a hand on her shoulder. She faced Natsu questioningly.

“Is it the hair?”

Lucy tilted her head, eyebrows furrowed, and he continued.

“Is it the hair? Because that sometimes puts people off. The color, I mean,” he grabbed at his bangs, pulling them down and inspecting them cross-eyed. Lucy stifled a laugh and shook her head.

“Then is it my clothes? Or my appearance?” He grabbed at his t-shirt now, pulling at the black fabric. It had a logo with a dragon in the corner, with “I.D. TATTOO” circling the red insignia. He wore ripped jeans and sported four piercings in his right ear and a half-sleeve on his upper left forearm. Lucy bit her lip subconsciously and shook her head again.

“Then what is it? Why won’t you talk to me? Do you not like me? I’ll stop bugging you if you do, really.”

Lucy’s eyes widened with realization… and then she began to laugh. Through her laughter she noticed his face become more and more concerned, and after a few moments he turned to leave. Lucy grabbed at his arm and he stopped, looking back at her. She pointed to her ear, and moved her finger to her mouth quickly. She smiled apologetically, and he turned to face her, still somewhat confused. She rolled her eyes and tried again. This time, though, she pointed at her right ear, shaking her head and then pointing to her mouth, shaking her head at that too. Natsu’s eyes widened with realization.

“You’re… Oh. You’re deaf!”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before Lucy was a hundred percent sure as to what she was doing, she was at the crosswalk making her way across the street with the rest of the crowd, herding along like cattle through the street. She broke apart once she reached the sidewalk, and before she knew it, she found herself opening the door to the shop.
> 
> She had just stepped past a small bookshelf stuffed with art portfolios and topped with a 3-headed dragon incense holder, when she was approached by a woman with long brown hair and very little clothing.
> 
> “Hey there gorgeous! Welcome to I.D. Tattoo. You lookin’ to get something done today?” she smiled at Lucy, who turned around to face a person who clearly wasn’t there. She turned back, pointing to herself confusedly.

_You should have seen his face, Levy. He was so pitiful. Like he felt so sorry for me. He left almost immediately after. It was like any thought of seeing me again just vanished._

Lucy signed to Levy as they sat at the counter of the bookstore. Levy rolled her eyes, and began signing back. Her small fingers looked big as she put emphasis on her movements.

_Look, Lu. He was probably just shocked! For all you know he could walk through that door any minute now begging for a date._

_Yeah, sure._ Lucy snorted out a small laugh. _Like that’ll happen. Dammit, Levy, I should have just told him in the first place, and avoided all the trouble he went through._

Levy shrugged, signing a quick _I’m sure it’ll work out_ before turning to a customer that had just walked up. She smiled, using simple hand gestures and paper cards to communicate during the transaction.

Levy had been Lucy’s best friend since elementary school. Being a select few in the community who were both deaf, they connected almost immediately and had been together since. They did everything together – including open a bookstore. They named it “Signs”, which they thought was hilarious, and it quickly became very popular in the city of Crocus. Most of the people they employed were deaf, and the people who visited enjoyed the quiet atmosphere and the work the girls put in to make sure it was a welcoming environment for people of any kind. Lucy was happy, and she was free to be herself here without anyone looking at her with pity or acting as if she had a crutch. She loved it, and she loved working with Levy by her side.

She sat watching Levy ring up customers, her elbow on the counter top and her chin resting on her palm. She sighed to herself, standing and stepping to the side to poke Levy on the back of her head,

The tiny girl turned, looking up at Lucy expectantly. She was used to this kind of action, so she didn’t feel the need to jump or be frightened.

_I’m going to get lunch. Do you want anything?_

Levy simply shook her head, and Lucy nodded in acknowledgement. She headed out of the store and down the street to the same hot dog cart she’d seen that morning with Natsu.

She groaned, and practically smacked herself on the forehead.

Natsu.

She’d met him this morning and had ben with him for a total of maybe an hour, but she couldn’t get him out of her head. Sure, he was attractive – very attractive – but she’d met attractive guys before. And most of them had refused dates with her once they found out she was deaf. So why did it hurt so much when he did, too?

She groaned again, actually smacking herself on the forehead this time. She’d forgotten her wallet back in her bag at work.

She turned to head back to the shop, but stopped as she noticed something across the street.

A large insignia was painted on a window. It was that of a dragon in a circle, and the words I.D. TATTOO circling it. It was identical to the logo on the shirt Natsu was wearing this morning.

Before she was a hundred percent sure as to what she was doing, she was at the crosswalk making her way across the street with the rest of the crowd, herding along like cattle through the street. She broke apart once she reached the sidewalk, and before she knew it, she found herself opening the door to the shop. She made her way inside, her eyes wide and open to the pictures around her.

She was hit by a wave of cigarettes and incense. Artwork surrounded her on all sides, taking up nearly every inch of the walls of the small shop. The parts of the wall that weren’t covered by portraits and frames and paintings were painted red, like the dragon insignia out front. And dragons were everywhere, Lucy noticed. It was obviously a very dominant part of this shop’s image, and she was very intrigued. She had just stepped past a small bookshelf stuffed with art portfolios and topped with a 3-headed dragon incense holder, when she was approached by a woman with long brown hair and very little clothing.

“Hey there gorgeous! Welcome to I.D. Tattoo. You lookin’ to get something done today?” she smiled at Lucy, who turned around to face a person who clearly wasn’t there. She turned back, pointing to herself confusedly.

“Yeah, you,” she smiled wider, approaching Lucy and swinging one of her arms over her shoulder. Lucy shied away from the contact, unable to see her face from this angle. She got a decent view of the woman’s bikini-clad chest, however. Lucy blushed, somewhat pulling herself out of the half-embrace.

“What’s the matter, this your first time? No problem. I’ll be sure to be gentle.” The woman winked, and Lucy let out a squeak. The brown-haired woman laughed, and Lucy flushed even more. She held her hands up in defense, shaking her head quickly.

“Well come on back. Let’s look at what you want done.” Lucy felt a hand close around her wrist, and she panicked as she was dragged to the back corner of the shop. She couldn’t get a tattoo. She couldn’t. Oh, this was a mistake. She could feel the bass from the speakers mounted on the walls of the shop, and it was pounding nearly as loudly as her heart. She may just collapse. She may end up just passing out and never being able to explain that she didn’t want a tattoo, and the unthinkable might happen. She was going to leave with ink on her skin and there was nothing she could do about it.

Until-

The woman in front of her stopped walking as Lucy continued straight into her back. She rubbed her head and winced, turning behind her to see what had caused the woman to stop.

There at the entrance, in all his pink-haired glory, was Natsu.

Lucy let out a visibly audible sigh as she made her way across the room. He stood in the doorway with a soda, a pizza box, and a confused expression. Lucy stopped a few feet away from him, and began signing.

_Thank GOD you got here when you did. I came here because I saw the logo on your shirt yesterday and for some reason I thought ‘hey! Let’s look at this place!’ and then when I came in this woman asked if I wanted a tattoo and I most certainly do not want a tattoo but I had no way of telling her this and I was so scared that I was going to end up with one and I really just wanted to say hello that’s all aaaaand you have no idea what I’m saying._

Lucy let her hands fall to her side as Natsu’s confused expression only grew into sheer bewilderment. She backed away slowly, her cheeks flushing red with embarrassment. Of course he couldn’t understand her. There’s no way he could. She expected him to start laughing, or maybe just shrug and awkwardly ask her to leave…

But instead he smiled.

She watched as he set down his pizza box and soda slowly onto the bookshelf next to him, next to the dragon incense burner. He stepped forward slowly, his face excited and his smile stretching from ear to ear. Lucy watched his lips move.

“Do that again.”

Her heart jumped into her throat, and her eyes grew wide with confusion. No one had ever asked her to sign anything for them twice, unless they were having trouble picking up what she was saying and needed her to slow down. He saw her hesitation, and repeated himself.

“Do it again. Please? I have no idea what you just said, but I know for a fact that watching you do that was absolutely beautiful.”

Her cheeks grew even redder, and she found herself smiling back at him. Lucy raised her hands, speaking to him slowly.

_I think you’re nice. And I would like to get to know you better._

He watched, wide-eyed and fascinated, as her hands moved. She watched him watch her, her breathing caught in her throat. His head whipped up suddenly, looking somewhere behind her. She turned her head slowly, following his gaze.

He was looking at the brown-haired woman, who had a hand on her hip and a smirk on her face.

“Should I just go then, or do you want me to leave you some condoms before I take off?”

Lucy’s eyes widened again, and she turned to face Natsu, whose face was just as red as she’d assumed hers was.

“Jesus, Cana! You can’t just say shit like that!” he pushed past Lucy and walked up to the girl, shoving his palm into her shoulder playfully. Cana laughed, and Lucy assumed Natsu had said something to her while his back was turned.

“Yeah, well you were over here fawning over her. I had to say something!” Cana moved across the empty space to stand in front of Lucy, putting her hands on her hips. “So, you’re deaf, huh?”

Lucy nodded.

“Sorry about almost tattooing you back there. I wouldn’t have really done it unless you’d wanted to. There would have been plenty of opportunities to turn me down.” She smirked at Lucy, who let out a sigh of relief. Cana laughed, and put her hand on Lucy’s shoulder.

“Can I ask you something? I’m curious.”

Lucy nodded, knowing what was coming next.

“How do you know what we’re saying? I mean, considering you can’t hear.”

Lucy saw Natsu stiffen behind Cana, and she smiled. She could appreciate the blunt question, and she thought for a moment about how to answer.

She pointed to Cana’s lips, and then to her own eyes. Cana’s face lit up in understanding. “You read lips?”

Lucy nodded. She pulled out her phone, deciding it was time to bring out the longer form of communication.

The other two remained silent as she typed. Lucy could feel the bass from the speakers again, the tempo changed to a faster beat. She finished a moment later, handing Cana her phone.

_> I read lips and communicate through gestures. For longer things I use my phone or laptop, though._

Cana nodded in understanding, smiled wickedly. She handed Lucy her phone back and turned to Natsu, covering her mouth so that Lucy couldn’t see. Natsu’s face turned red again, and he pushed Cana away.

“Sh…shut up! I was going to, until you interrupted…”

Lucy came back to Signs with the biggest smile Levy had ever seen her wear.

She eyed her curiously as Lucy took her position behind the counter, waiting a few moments before smacking her arm and waiting for her to turn to look at her.

_What’s got you all smiley?_

Levy didn’t think Lucy’s smile could grow any wider, but she was proved wrong as Lucy responded.

_I have a date tomorrow night._


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Teach me.”
> 
> The confusion on Lucy’s face deepened, and she stepped closer, looking up at him.
> 
> “Uh… I mean… Teach me some sign language? Just little things. I mean… I probably won’t ever get really good at it or anything, but… I’d like to learn. Or at least try to.” He scratched at the back of his head again, and Lucy reached out, grabbing is elbow and stopping him.
> 
> She pulled his arm towards her, smiling. She pointed to him, and he looked at her questioningly.
> 
> N-A-T-S-U.
> 
> He imitated the letters, and she nodded before pointing to herself.
> 
> L-U-C-Y.

The sunset was an oil painting, with clouds like cotton balls drifting across the horizon. Lucy leaned forward in the passenger seat, straining to see as much of the sky as possible through the windshield. She hummed to herself, sitting back in her seat and leaning her elbow on the ledge where the window met the car door, dropping her chin into the palm of her hand. They’d been driving for at least an hour, and she wasn’t met with much scenery other than track housing and other cars, probably commuting home from work.

Lucy sat up slightly as they pulled off the freeway and entered a small batch of beach houses. She turned to Natsu, tilting her head and raising her eyebrows questioningly. His gaze shifted between her and the road in front of them, and he laughed.

“We’re almost there.”

Lucy nodded her head in acknowledgement and turned to look back out the window, watching the tiny houses with curiosity. Natsu had shown up at her house only a few hours earlier, with two tickets in his hand and a gleam in his eye that Lucy hadn’t seen since she was a child and her parents announced to her and Levy that they would be going to Disneyland. It made her excited, seeing how enthusiastic he was as he dragged her out the door laughing. He hadn’t, however, told her what those tickets were for. She still had no idea where they were going.

Natsu made a right at an intersection and drove another 5 minutes before pulling to a stop. Lucy slowly climbed out of the car, taking in her surroundings.

They were facing a bay with a set of docks, filled with boats. She walked toward the docks slowly, eyes wide, wondering what Natsu had planned, bringing her to a place like this.

Just as she thought it, Natsu tapped her on the shoulder. She turned, and her eyes widened even more, a smile creeping onto her face.

Behind them was an aquarium. Across the street from the parking lot they’d parked in, it was huge and had paintings of the ocean along the walls. Statues of fish and otters and pelicans stood shining out front, and children pulled their parents by the hands toward the entrance, jumping ad pointing and spinning in small circles with excitement.

Lucy turned back to Natsu, who was watching her, smiling.

“You’re really cool, so I figured I should take you somewhere really cool, too.” He scratched the back of his head nervously, and Lucy laughed. She turned back to the docks, watching the boats sail across the water.

She smiled and took in a deep breath, closing her eyes and taking in the smell of the marina in front of her. Natsu watched patiently. When she finally opened her eyes to look at him, he held out his arm.

“Ready?”

She nodded. Wrapping her arms around his bicep, they made their way to the aquarium entrance.

She gripped his arm tighter as they walked inside, her eyes turning toward the ceiling. A blue whale replica hung above them, suspended by thick cables drilled into the roof of the building. Her eyes widened, and she shook Natsu’s arm and pointed, her mouth open in a small ‘o’ shape.

Natsu’s smile grew.

He led her down a small corridor and around a corner, stopping in front of a massive tank that spread from one end of the room to the other. Tropical fish swam in circles and poked at the pebbles on the floor of the tank, searching for food. Lucy’s eyes shone as she let go of Natsu’s arm and stepped forward, pressing her hands to the glass.

She tilted her head to the side as a bright red fish swam past her, and nearly collided with a striped one moving in the opposite direction. She laughed, and turned back to Natsu, pointing at the scene in front of them.

He watched, hands in his pockets, before stepping forward and taking ahold of her arm. She turned to face him, a confusion passing across her face as his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. It took him a moment to gather the words he wanted to say.

“Teach me.”

The confusion on Lucy’s face only deepened, and she stepped closer, looking up at him.

“Uh… I mean… Teach me some sign language? Just little things. I mean… I probably won’t ever get really good at it or anything, but… I’d like to learn. Or at least try to.”  He scratched at the back of his head again, and Lucy reached out, grabbing is elbow and stopping him.

She pulled his arm towards her, smiling. She pointed to him, and he looked at her questioningly.

“Me?”

Lucy nodded, pulling her right hand up to eye level.

_N-A-T-S-U_.

He imitated the letters, and she nodded before pointing to herself.

_L-U-C-Y._

He signed her name, too, and she smiled. She moved toward the tank in front of them and pointed at the fish, who were darting back and forth happily.

“Fish?”

She nodded once, tilting his hand sideways so his thumb faced the ceiling. She stepped back a few feet, positioning her hand in the same way. Natsu watched as she moved her hand in a serpentine motion, forward a few inches, before pulling it back and making the same movement. She motioned for him to follow.

He mimicked her motions, and she nodded. He smiled at her, and she took hold of his hand and pulled him to the next exhibit.

* * *

They worked their way from tank to tank, Lucy teaching Natsu as they went. He watched her, eyes wide, fingers fumbling as he crudely imitated the moves she made. She would just smile and nod at him, his eyes lighting up whenever she did so.

She learned about him while they walked. He talked about his job and his friends, and she watched him talk almost as intently as he watched her sign.

“You met Cana. She’s the other one that works at the shop with me.”

Lucy made a small “mmm” sound and nodded. Natsu continued.

“I met her when we were kids. She’s always been a really good friend. Very inappropriate sometimes, but a very good friend nonetheless,” he smiled. “She and I both work there, and so does my cousin Gajeel. He’s… Alright. He’s kind of an ass, but still. He’s tolerable. Sometimes my friend Gray will do some work there, but it’s not too often. He’s pretty good, but he never really wanted to make it a full-time thing. Ya know?” He looked at her then, and Lucy nodded.

“My dad, Igneel, opened the tattoo shop before I was born. He’d bring me to work a lot with him when I was younger, and I began apprenticing with him as soon as I turned 18. And after he….” He trailed off for a moment before picking his sentence back up again. “I mean, a few years later, I began apprenticing with my uncle Atlas. It’s been what… only 4 years since then?”

He looked toward the ceiling and counted on his fingers, seeming to do the math in his head. “It’s been 7 since I turned 18 so… yeah. That sounds right.” He turned back to Lucy. “Anyway, the shop is mine now since Atlas retired. I mean, I do okay, but I’ve never been able to get my work up to my dad’s level.”

His eyes lost their shine for a moment. Lucy watched, eyebrows pulling together in concern. But just as quickly as the light disappeared, it was back again, and he was grinning at Lucy just as he had before. She wondered what he’d thought about to make him react like that.

She was staring at Natsu, lost in thought, when suddenly she was falling. Feeling her foot snag on something, she didn’t have time to catch herself before she flew forward, arms flailing in panic. But instead of meeting the floor like she’d expected, she was met with a pair of strong arms wrapping around her waist.

When Natsu pulled her back up to face him, he was laughing. Lucy puffed her cheeks out in angry embarrassment and turned away from him, wrapping her own arms around her waist where his were a moment ago. He touched her elbow lightly, and she turned back to face him.

“It’s a conveyer belt, weirdo. You weren’t looking down so you missed it.”

She whipped her head back in the direction that she fell in. Sure enough, there on the floor were two conveyer belts – one heading into a separate part of the aquarium, and one leading back to where they stood now. The first led into a darkened tunnel, and she squinted to try and make out what the exhibit may be, but with no luck. She turned to face Natsu, and pointed.

“Oh, that? It’s the shark dome. It’s pretty sweet!”

Lucy’s eyes grew to the biggest size Natsu had seen them in all day. She laid her left hand flat in front of her, with her right hand straight behind it. She moved her hands the same way she did when she was signing the word “fish”, and Natsu nodded shortly.

“Shark?”

Lucy nodded frantically, before immediately changing to shaking her head and holding up her hands defensively.

“What, do you… Do you not like sharks?”

Lucy nodded for a third time, and Natsu grinned in response.

“Awe, come on Luce! This is the coolest exhibit here. I promise you’ll love it. And if you don’t, you can always close your eyes until we’re out!”

Lucy weighed her options. On one hand, she hated sharks. Like… really hated them. They’d terrified her ever since she watched Jaws in 3rd grade, and refused to swim in the ocean ever since. Levy would always try and convince her to swim whenever they went to the beach, but Lucy would simply smile and tell her that she was perfectly comfortable watching from her very safe beach towel.

But on the other hand, Natsu had promised her she’d be safe. She doubted they would just allow the sharks to be in a position where they could attack customers, and she didn’t want to make her date think that she was a wimp.

So she nodded slowly, taking hold of Natsu’s hand and letting him lead her onto the conveyer belt. They stood together, hand in hand, as the belt pulled them through the opening of the tunnel.

Everything went black, and Lucy squeezed Natsu’s hand tighter, as if he would disappear if she let go. She felt him squeeze back, and she slowly let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

But suddenly the tunnel was filled light, and Lucy was washed in the color blue. They were submerged in water, with only a thick glass dome surrounding them, keeping them dry. Fish surrounded them on all sides, seemingly oblivious to the many people watching them. They simply made their way over or around the glass dome, with only a few of them choosing to stop and stare at the people inside. The dome was more of a small room, able to accommodate about 20 or 30 people. A small circle of benches sat in the middle of the room, mostly occupied by parents waiting patiently for their children to get tired of starting at the tank around them.

Lucy stepped forward, pressing her right hand to the glass gently, her left one still intertwined with Natsu’s. An angel fish sat in front of her, darting from side to side. She smiled softly and let her forehead fall against the glass. It was cold, and she could feel the hum of life from the other side against her skin. She cast her eyes to the bottom of the tank, and she watched as stingrays seemed to flutter by, wings wide, kicking up dust whenever they moved.

She stepped back from the glass, looking up towards the top of the tank. Sharks circled the top of the dome, with a few of them venturing down to Lucy’s eye level. She sucked in a breath, gripping Natsu’s hand tighter again. He tugged on her hand and pulled her to face him. He smiled at her, and pointed to a corner of the tank that Lucy hadn’t seen yet.

A worker clad in scuba gear had made their way into the enclosure and was making their way towards the glass dome. Lucy watched as the worker slowed to a stop, floating slowly through the center of the group of sharks they’d just swam into.

They stopped on the top of the dome and pulled out a rag, wiping down the dome. Lucy let out a small snort as she realized they were _cleaning_ the tank. She’d never thought that a tank submerged in water may need cleaning. She figured the water would just automatically clean it enough. She turned back to Natsu.

“See Luce? The sharks don’t give a shit. They just wanna swim around all day. All you have to do is sit back and watch.”

And she did.

She had no idea how long they sat in the dome, staring at the fish and the sharks and each other. She watched Natsu as he spoke, telling her stories about his childhood and his frequent trips to the aquarium with Gray and his adoptive family.

“His adoptive mom, Ur, she’d bring him and his brother Leon here all the time. She’d always ask if I wanted to go, since Gray and I were friends. I’d stay with them a lot, for… reasons.” He made the same face as he had earlier, while talking about the tattoo shop. Lucy’s eyebrows pulled together and she reached out, touching his arm lightly. He shook his head quickly, and smiled at Lucy again. “But that’s something else entirely. Anyway, Gray would always want to stay in the Arctic exhibits. But they were always so cold so I’d leave and end up here. This was always my favorite place to go. I dunno, something about this place would always cheer me up. You know?”

Lucy nodded, and looked up at the fish around them for a moment before turning back to Natsu.

“But I’ve been telling you about me all day. I don’t know that much about you, yet.” He tilted his head, smiling at her softly. She smiled back, shaking her head. She moved her fingers on her right hand to form an “ok” symbol, turning it sideways and tapping it to her chin. She then flattened that same hand, holding it in front of her chin, bringing her left hand to level with it before moving it up to her forehead, keeping it flat. Then in one motion, she brought her right hand to meet it, moving her fingers together on both hands and pulling them away from her forehead, holding them out in front of her as if handing Natsu a gift. After pausing a moment, she pulled her hands toward her chest a bit and, while seeming to hold an invisible phone, made a motion that looked like she was texting someone.

Natsu watched, frowning.

“What’s that mean? I think there was something about texting at the end, but the rest is totally lost on me.”

Lucy laughed, turning to dig through her bag quickly, pulling out a small notepad and pen. She flipped through it, past the food orders and the sentences she’d written in response to questions from people and doodles she’d made while at work. Once she found an empty page she scribbled something down, flipping it so Natsu could read it.

_Soon. Too much information. I’ll text you later._

Natsu laughed with her, shaking his head while he did.

“Why didn’t you just say so?”

He stood, holding his hand out to her. Lucy took it, and she intertwined her fingers with his as they made their way out of the aquarium together.

* * *

Lucy fell asleep on the car ride home. She woke with a start as Natsu gently shook her shoulder. She jumped up in her seat, breathing heavily, unable to see anything in the darkness of the car that had been surrounded by the night. She felt the car shake a little bit before a small light appeared above her, and she had to squint as her eyes adjusted to the drastic change. By the time she could see clearly, Natsu was falling back into his chair. He smiled sheepishly at her as he scratched the back of his neck, and pointed to the car light above the dashboard, his mouth moving in a soft “sorry”.

Lucy smiled back, slightly embarrassed, and moved to grab her things from the floor in front of her. She rubbed her eyes as she scooped up her purse and fished her phone out from under the seat where (she was assuming) it had fallen during the drive. She sat back up and turned back towards Natsu, ready to say goodbye, only to find that he was in the middle of a sentence.

“-and, I mean, I can understand if not. I dunno. Uh… if it’s not too weird or anything.”

He looked at her, and Lucy felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Her eyes widened a bit, and she frantically emptied most of her bag in an attempt to find her notebook. Once she did, she tore a page out immediately, not caring whether it already had something written on it.

_~~I didn’t hear~~.. I didn’t see what you said. Can you repeat it?_

She practically shoved the note into his chest, pulling back and covering her mouth with her hands. She watched as he read the note, letting out a breath in what she hoped was relief.

He looked back at her then, with a determination that Lucy had never seen before.

And then he began to sign.

It was messy, and he had to repeat some of the letters and motions a few times, but it was unmistakable.

He signed Lucy’s name, and followed by pointing to his chest. He then flattened his fingers to his chest, pulling them up and turning them into a point in Lucy’s direction. She sat completely still, her hands still over her mouth, her mind registering what had just been said.

_Lucy, I like you._


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cana wiggled her eyebrows as she answered. “Do you need any advice on how to please a girl, Natsu? I doubt you’ve had much practice.”
> 
> The pink from Natsu’s ears grew, travelling down his neck and dotting his cheeks.
> 
> “Shut up Cana! I’ve had tons of girlfriends!”
> 
> Cana laughed, lifting herself off of her chair for the second time and making her way towards the front of the shop.
> 
> “Yeah, right. I don’t think kissing Lisanna under the jungle gym when you were 8 counts as ‘a ton of girlfriends’.”

“So what did she say then?” **  
**

Cana sat in her chair backwards, her ankles crossed under her. She looked expectantly at Natsu, who only scoffed in reply. He sat to her right, nearly hidden in the back of the shop. The light tracer was on, and he was bent dangerously close to the new drawing he was working on. Flowers were never his specialty, Cana knew, so this meant he’d needed to trace a good portion of the piece. But that didn’t mean she had to sit quietly while he did so.

“Oh come on. You can’t just leave out the good part! Tell me what she said. Or,” she smiled then, the corner of her mouth pulled up in a lazy grin, “was it that bad? Is your pride too wounded to go on?”

At this, Natsu turned to face her, and Cana’s grin only grew as he put his pencil down and gave her a look. His exasperation was apparent, and she knew she had won. She watched as he rolled his eyes, his head tilted to the side in a tired attempt to answer.

“No, Cana. My pride is not wounded, thanks. It all went fine. I just don’t feel like sharing details.” He turned back to the piece in front of him, shaking his head to himself. Cana leaned backwards, holding on to the backrest of the chair to keep herself from falling. She sat at an angle, leaning her head back to look at Natsu’s client behind her.

“That’s just another way of saying that they boned.”

Cana could see the girl giggle a bit from her upside down view, and she cackled as she heard Natsu choke to her right. A lump began to form in her throat from her position, so she rolled her head to face her friend, who stared at her with an incredulous face.

“Cana! You can’t just say things like that! We didn’t even do anything!”

“Then why is your face two shades darker than your hair, Fireball?”

Natsu elected to ignore the question, turning (much too quickly, in Cana’s opinion) back to the piece he was working on. She saw the tips of his ears turning pink as he bent farther over the paper to hide his face.

Cana straightened herself up and pushed off of the station in front of her. She rolled backwards in the chair, gliding across the floor in the direction of the mini fridge in the back corner of the shop, behind Natsu. She slid to a stop, pulling the door open with her foot. She grabbed a beer from the top shelf, humming along to the music floating throughout the speakers throughout the shop. Today was Cana’s turn to choose the music, and she’d spent most of the day singing slightly off key and dancing slightly off kilter to the Pandora station she’d set. Beer in hand, she stood from her chair, moving behind Natsu and leaning onto him as he worked. She watched as he traced, admiring his work.

It was a beautiful piece, really. Full of flowers and colors and script at a level that Cana could only hope to reach one day. Sure, the flower designs weren’t his, but she was impressed with the way he could take so many different photos from online and bend them into the exact vision he had in his head. He was a talented artist, and Cana had nothing but respect for him. (Whether or not she’d admit it was another story entirely.)

She brought her elbows up to rest on his shoulders, setting her chin on his head and her beer next to her cheek. It was quiet, save for Cana’s humming, and they sat like that for a minute or two until she spoke.

“But joking aside, kid. It went well, right? You didn’t get shot down?”

There was a genuine concern in her voice, and Natsu rolled his eyes at her attempt to be serious with him. He sat back as he finished the details on his sketch, and Cana stepped back to let him stand. “Yeah, it went fine. She got really excited and told me that she liked me too. She thought it was sweet that I learned to sign that for her.”

Cana dragged her chair behind her as she followed Natsu across the floor to where his client sat. The girl’s face lit up as Natsu handed her the picture, and Cana couldn’t help but smile. “Make sure this is what you want? If there’s anything you want changed let me know.”

She practically fell into her chair, pulling herself up to Natsu’s work station to watch him set up.

“Well that was pretty smooth, I will admit. Did you kiss her? Tell me you didn’t miss out on that sweet opportunity.”

Natsu’s ears turned pink at the tips. Cana crossed her arms on top of the back of her chair, resting her chin on them as she looked at him, mouth falling open a bit as her eyebrows raised. Her beer hung loosely from her left hand, threatening to drop at any second.

“You totally made out.”

“N-no! No. No, Cana, she kissed me on the cheek and left. That’s it!”

Cana wiggled her eyebrows as she answered. “Yeah, right. Whatever you say, lover boy. Do you need any advice on how to please a girl, Natsu? I doubt you’ve had much practice.”

The pink from Natsu’s ears grew, travelling down his neck and dotting his cheeks.

“Shut up Cana! I’ve had tons of girlfriends!”

Cana laughed, lifting herself off of her chair for the second time and making her way towards the front of the shop.

“Yeah, right. I don’t think kissing Lisanna under the jungle gym when you were 8 counts as ‘a ton of girlfriends’.” She popped the top of her beer, finally taking a sip. She stared out at the street in front of her, laughing at her own joke, thinking about how funny she was.

Natsu sputtered behind her, muttering about girlfriends and “having more than just one”.

“Well anyway, it’s about time you found someone. She must be pretty special if she got you to learn something, even if it was a simple sentence. Plus you never seem to shut up about her.” Her eyes trailed after a couple across the street from the shop, walking hand in hand. The girl was leaning into the boy as they moved, laughing at something he had probably said. Her cheeks were red and his smile was soft. They looked happy.

Cana sighed.

“I’m happy for you, Fireball.” Her voice was low; Natsu barely caught it over the sound from the speakers next to him. “And you know what? I’m pretty sure Igneel would be, too.”

A heavy silence fell over the shop. Cana’s eyes never left the couple across the street, her chest heavy. Even the music seemed to become softer, or was she just imagining things? She finished her beer in nearly three gulps, crushing the can in her hand and tossing it into the trashcan to her right. She didn’t move from her place at the doorway as Natsu spoke.

“She’s just… different. You know?”

Cana smiled to herself, rolling her eyes as she tore her gaze from across the street. She moved her attention to the people hailing cabs, and families making their way through the shops across the street. She spoke with her back to Natsu, her sarcastic twinge carefully layered back into her words.

“Yeah, okay every-romance-movie-ever-made.”

Natsu snorted behind her. “No, like… Okay, yeah. That was pretty bad. But seriously, she’s… She’s just different. She’s a genuinely interesting person, and she’s just so nice. I’ve never met anyone like her, you know?”

“I don’t,” Cana shrugged, finally turning away from the street to face Natsu and his client, “to be completely honest. But that doesn’t mean I’m not happy that you do.”

Natsu said nothing, focusing on putting together his machine, and lining up the colors for his client. The room was quiet, save for the music that seemed to suffocate Cana as she moved further into the shop. She sighed, dropping into the chair by Natsu’s station, running her hands through her hair and staring at the ceiling.

“Bacchus and I broke up.”

Natsu’s movements stilled, and his client shifted awkwardly in her chair. Cana’d never really had problems with discussing things with strangers, though, so she continued.

“There was no real substance there, ya know? We’d just drink and fuck and drink some more.” She sighed, shrugging as she lowered her gaze from the ceiling. “Don’t get me wrong, he was a good guy. But… There was never any time where I saw a future between us. And that sort of… bothered me.”

Natsu hummed in acknowledgement.

“My point is, I think it’s time I start thinking about my future. Like, a long term relationship that doesn’t piss me off or make me miserable. And part of me, I think, is kind of jealous that it seems like you found that.” Her eyes trailed to the floor, and a heavy silence fell over the room. But as quickly as it had come, Cana pushed it away again, sighing too loudly and shrugging her shoulders. “Well, maybe. I mean, it might be too early to tell since you can’t even land a real kiss with the girl.” Cana smirked, noticing Natsu’s relief that the tension in the room had somewhat lifted.

“Yeah, well, it’s only been a few weeks since we met. I don’t want to just dive into things.” He shrugged, his shoulders nearly touching his ears. He began pulling on a pair of latex gloves, stretching his fingers in order to stretch the glove over his hand, snapping it at his wrists. A smirk flashed across his face, eyes glinting as he turned to Cana. “Just because you’ve never taken things slow before, doesn’t mean that others don’t.”

She responded with a laugh, more a bark than anything else. “I guess that’s true.”

Natsu laughed, starting up his machine and dipping it into the ink set out in front of him. He looked up at his client, grinning from ear to ear.

“Ready?”


End file.
